President and Sister Whitney have Arrived! Happy 4th of July!!

Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been such a wonderful week full of surprises, and crazy experiences! And I believe that one of the biggest things I have learned in my mission especially is how fragile life is..

My heart goes out to the families of those who have had loved ones lost through tragedy. And those of you who have some form of sickness that is threat to your life! As a missionary I have had the experience of feeling the love that our Father in Heaven has for an investigator and literally sitting by him as he thought he was taking his last breaths or sitting through this last day of life and lifting him up and letting him know how much God loves him as he begged to take away the pain, and then days later having him pass away. It crushed me and I didn't know how to handle it. And I feel as parents and family members of these loved ones it has to be so much harder. But for all of you who are suffering or mourning please know that God has a plan much greater than we will ever know and that he loves us more than we will ever know as well. 

Ether 12:37 "Thou hast been faithful; wherefore thou hast been made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."

2 Nephi 2:2 "Nevertheless, Jacob, my first born son in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain."

We may not understand why things are happening with us or our loved ones and why God is punishing us, but remember this, "If for a while the harder you try the harder it gets, Take Heart, So is has been with the best people who have who have ever lived!"

-Jeffery R. Holland

I know that this is true!

This is how my week went!!

June 27-3 2016

Monday:

Wow, today was more of a relaxed day for both of us as it was our pday, but even then we were both very busy cleaning the apartment for the transfer and getting everything ready for having Elder Langi come in! So today we had a really fun pday with the Zone where we had a BBQ and then we went out and played frisbee and had so much fun! Hen after PDay we got really busy and had a wonderful dinner with the Garcia a Family and then we went for Elder Lewis to say some goodbyes because our last appointment canceled!! It was a really simple and good day!!

Tuesday:

Today was the last day with Elder Lewis, and it was a good one!

So today we started off the day by going on a good run, and then studying for our investigators, but sadly our lessons fell through! However, we were able to go to Torchies, a Taco Shop that is to die for, and have lunch, and then we went home and Elder Lewis packed his bags while I organized the house! Then after we got done we went out and were contacting people when we got a text saying that our last appointment we had planned had to cancel. But today was wonderful, because we were out contacting people and went to find a less active member and we found her! She is 90 and still going strong, she was super sweet and we helped her with some things she had and had a wonderful talk on her front porch! It was so fun to get to know her and her story, and she was super excited to get our number to be able to call us when she needs us! Also we were just getting done there when we had finished contacting everyone we had on our list, and so Elder Lewis was busy looking up a car problem, so I was skimming through the list of investigators to go by when I found a street we hadn't been to in a while, and so as we went there, I was disappointed, because the house I thought would have had someone who was interested had no body! So we were walking when we saw a guy sitting by his car. We went to talk to him and realized he was a referral we had tried to contact at the beginning of the 6 weeks together! So we share the Book of Mormon with him and his wife and he wanted us to come back! I love knowing that God watches over us! May we always remember that he does, and just like I didn't see exactly why he sent me there at first, I know that we get lost in life, but do not worry, God will always show is how to make it back if we 'let' him!

Wednesday:

Holy cow today was a wonderful and crazy day! Today was the day of transfers, and it was very weird to think of how fast the time flew by!! So I said goodbye to Elder Lewis and an hour later I had Elder Langi and he was more than ready to go and ready to work hard as well!! So we had a wonderful day, because he just has fire to talk to everyone about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!! Like we were ordering food from a drive through and he was asking them if they wanted to learn more about what we believed! It was very inspiring! So today we had the chance to have dinner with Hna. Oliva, a member who I never knew to well, but found out she has such a strong testimony and is willing to share it! We were eating and finished watching the Testaments with her when the savior arrives in the Americas and gives sight to Papanua! She was sobbing and the spirit was so strong, and so we just read a scripture and asked, do you feel that you need to share this gospel? She said she had to friends and was going to ask them to come by this next week so we could come over and teach a lesson! So then after that we were able to leave with Jairo Tapia, a young man getting ready to serve a mission, and teach two people and it was a wonderful time!! We taught him how to contact people with a Book of Mormon and then we were able to show him, and he was so surprised with how easy it was to do!! And we had a wonderful lesson with Hna. Vanessa De la Cruz and we helped her understand that her goal for herself was to be sealed with her family and she was sad because her husband doesn't want anything to do with the church right now. So we testified that by her being faithful she will receive blessings and one day she will reach her goal! And Jairo bore a strong testimony that really helped her!! I hope that we are helping him understand how to teach people and not lessons!!! I already love my companion from San Bruno, California!!

Thursday:

What can I say about today, other that it was a spiritually draining day! I feel like for the rest of the week I will be saying I am drained, because today was crazy busy and tomorrow will be even more and won't stop, but I love it because as I work hard, God blesses and time goes that the speed that I want! So today Elder Langi and I had the chance to plan for the following week, and it was not easy! We have a crazy week coming up with a new mission president and lots of Zone Leader meetings, but all together it is going to be an amazing one! I felt so tired finishing up, until I remembered that we were finally teaching an investigator who had her family of 4 all together who are practically ready to be baptized! So my energy just jumped! So this evening we had a wonderful dinner with the Viera family, and we talked to them about the lesson we will be having with the De la Rosa family! And the most amazing thing is that the Hna. Viera is fellowshipping this family, and the decided she wanted to come and teach them with us! So we showed up to the De la Rosa household and the welcomed us in happily! We sat down and we talked and taught about the restoration and the Book of Mormon for about a hour and a half, and it was so spiritual! The mom told us, "what you just told me, about having a prophet and apostles now days is something I just felt in my heart was from God!" And so we knew she felt the spirit and we helped her understand it more! Then as we were getting ready to leave they said they would come to church and were thinking about baptism, because they felt that our church was the truest out of every church they have ever seen or been too! 

She knows it is true, but her only doubt is leaving her tradition of the Sabbath being a Sunday, and we as missionaries could only explain it simply, so all my energy will now be dedicated in finding the real reason that Sunday is the new Saturday! Ha 

I know God lives and being with Elder Langi I just feed off of his energy and we just teach so wonderfully! I can not wait to see them at church! So this evening we had mile reports to turn in for this month, and it was time consuming, but something I felt like sharing so that I remember and you know just what being a Zone Leader entails!

Friday:

Finally able to meet President and Sister Whitney and what a blessing they are! So today after studies we were very busy getting gas and heading to the church we met up with some of the other missionaries to carpool over to the Hust Stake Center to meet President and Sister Whitney! Elder Langi went in one car and I went in the truck so that we could fit, and it was a long ride, because the truck we were in had no A/C working and not even the fans would turn on so we were in our suits driving on the freeway with the windows down and hot air blowing on us for about half an hour, and it was a long ride, but we made it!! Then when we were all standing there I looked out the doors and saw President and Sister Whitney walking up to the doors, and it was such a happy feeling that came over me!! It is like I already knew them! As Sister Whitney saw me she got teary eyed and told me how bad she wanted to hug me and how wonderful my parents were and my grandma that she was able to get to know, and I felt so blessed in that moment to get to know her and know that she talked with my family! Also as President Whitney saw me he pulled me in, gave me a hug and said, "This is from me to you, and the next few are from your mom, dad and grandma!" So I received a few hugs from him and I already love that man so much!! He is definitely a little bit older, but everything that this mission needs and Sister Whitney just adds to it!! President Whitney in our meeting said a few things that really caught my attention. He said, "Elders, I am going to teach you a lesson that President Eyring taught me. When you get married you will be in charge of your family and your relationship, and so you need to tell you wife what to do, but this is how you do it." Then he looked at his wife, and said, "Can I have permission to tell you something? And then if she gives you the yes you can talk, and if she gives you the no, she is in charge!" He had a lot of funny jokes and here are a few quotes I caught that I thought were funny!

"If it ain't broken, don't Fix it!" - President Whitney

"Dang it Darrell, Do Something!!-- Even if it's wrong!"

And the last thing was something that one of the APs, Elder Bird told me. He said yesterday he was talking to them as APs and said, "Elders, the Atonement is real, because when I was a dairy farmer I had a swear word for every cow I owned, but now I can't think of them and don't even have a desire to use them!" 

So this evening we were able to attend a baptism of a young girl named Jessica Rivas and then went and just found a person on our list of people in our area and passed by their house with no success, so we turned around and I recognized another house and the man was outside, so we went and began to talk to him to find out he is a less active member and wants to come back! We have lots of work here, and his daughter wants to get baptized!!

Also I met a missionary named Elder Crapo and his middle name is Spendlove and come to find out his great grandpa George Isom Spendlove and my Great Grandpa Whitney Spendlove are Brothers!! It was really cool!! I love my mission and everything it is teaching me!

Saturday:

What a crazy but wonderful day we had today! Today I really felt like I began to connect with my companion, Elder Langi a lot better!! So today we were able to start off the day by going to a stake celebration that was held in the 8th Avenue building commemoration the 10th year of operation from that building, and it was a wonderful party! We were able to see a lot of members and then we were able to have a quick meeting with the Hnas. That are serving with us in our ward to talk about some ward business for becoming better missionaries and to help us as Zone Leaders for a meeting we will be having tomorrow with the Stake President, his councilors and President Peterson, the councilor of President Whitney. After taking care of some business with the rest of the Zone we were off and had a wonderful lesson and dinner with Sonny Moreno, who cooked blind because he thought we would be hungry and loves us. It was very sweet of him and was a humbler meal because he doesn't have lots of money or the ability to see much to cook. So we ate mac and cheese with buttered toast and some chicken patties covered in cheese! Also he made some delicious melon water that I almost drank all of! After that we received a call from a member, Hno. Beltran to see if we were able to give his wife a blessing because she was sick, and so we did, and I was able to give her a blessing without any problems in all spanish and it was just amazing! And the spirit was definitely helping me! Then we had one more dinner with the Martinez family and headed to teaching appointments that cancelled, but that is where the success began. We just began to go and knock doors and talk to the people outside and we were able to give 2 Books of Mormon out! One of the experiences was so amazing! We saw a guy, and began to talk to him and he was a little mean looking, but as we walked up to him, both smiling and talking about God, he softened up and was had a wonderful talk, found out his name was Armundo Palvo and that he was interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We connected well, and I felt like Elder Langi and I were able to really make him feel happy and the Spirit!! The rest of the night was busy finding a ride for an investigator that we called and said he would be coming to church if he had a ride!! And we are still praying we get one for tomorrow! So far no one can!! 

Sunday:

Wow! What a wonderful day we have had! Today we had the chance to go to church where we were able to partake of the sacred sacrament!! Oh I am so grateful for the mission which has taught me the real reason for church!! It is a place to go and feel of the love of God as we finish the repentance process and begin our process of becoming better in the following week! So today as we were at church I was able to translate for the Sikes in our ward who don't speak Spanish, and it was a wonderful experience to translate for the testimonies and really just feel the truth of what was being said, and that was when I was just so grateful for the gift of tongues as I realized that I was able to understand what was being said. I still am so surprised when I am sitting and and talking with one and think to myself in Spanish, "Wow I can understand this man that isn't speaking English...?" I love that God entrusted me with this gift and I am going to try my hardest to always keep up on it as I go throughout my whole life!! So today we were able to teach the Gospel Principles class on Fasting and the blessings of it, and as I finished the class I felt such a joy and peace as I realized that I just taught a full lesson to a group of Spanish speakers without crazy errors and I felt the spirit so strong! We had many people after the class come and thank us for teaching and I really hope that after my mission I will have the chance to teach people and invite them to feel the spirit and come closer to Heavenly Father!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

So today as church came to around the middle we left and went to our SMC meeting with the Stake and it was wonderful! I learned so much about organization of the church in general and how I can be a better help to my ward council and ward mission leader! So today we were able to get to know a lot of new people by knocking doors and we were able to find 2 more people interested in reading the Book of Mormon! 

My quote for today comes from President Rhodes! "Don't read the Book, that is how they catch you!" And that is,the truest statement ever made! The Book and the Spirit are how we catch you! But truth be told we don't want to catch you, we want you to come and want more from us, more from God! I know this church is true, and I feel it even stronger as I serve and put the things to practice! 

Thank you for always praying for me and for supporting me in my Mission! I know that Gods work is moving forward on both sides of the Veil! Never give up in the trials that me come upon you! I love all of you and please don't think I am joking or not serious when I say that! You have all helped me in some way in my life!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove